Lecture#6: Network Layer

Internetworking

Introduction to Networks v7.0 (ITN) Module: 8

6.1 Layer 3 Characteristics

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Network Layer Characteristics
The Network Layer

Network layer provides services to allow end devices to exchange data

• IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6) are the principle network layer communication
protocols.

• The network layer performs four basic operations: i) Addressing end devices, ii) Encapsulation,
iii) Routing and iv) De-encapsulation.

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Network Layer Characteristics
IP Encapsulation

• IP encapsulates the transport layer segment.

• IP can use either an IPv4 or IPv6 packet

and not impact the layer 4 segment.
• IP packet will be examined by all layer 3
devices as it traverses the network.
• The IP addressing does not change from
source to destination.

Note: NAT will change addressing, but will be discussed in a later module.

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Network Layer Characteristics
Characteristics of IP

IP is meant to have low overhead and may be described as:

• Connectionless
• Best Effort
• Media Independent

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Network Layer Characteristics
Connectionless
IP is Connectionless

• IP does not establish a connection with the destination before sending the packet.

• There is no control information needed (synchronizations, acknowledgments, etc.).

• The destination will receive the packet when it arrives, but no pre-notifications are sent

• If there is a need for connection-oriented traffic, then another protocol will handle this
(typically TCP at the transport layer).

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Network Layer Characteristics
Best Effort

IP is Best Effort

• IP will not guarantee delivery of the packet.

• IP has reduced overhead since there is no

mechanism to resend data that is not
received.
• IP does not expect acknowledgments.

• IP does not know if the other device is

operational or if it received the packet.

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Network Layer Characteristics
Media Independent
IP is unreliable:
• It cannot manage or fix undelivered or corrupt packets.
• IP cannot retransmit after an error.
• IP cannot realign out of sequence packets.
• IP must rely on other protocols for these functions.

IP is media Independent:
• IP does not concern itself with the type of frame
required at the data link layer or the media type at
the physical layer.
• IP can be sent over any media type: copper, fiber,
or wireless.

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Network Layer Characteristics
Media Independent (Contd.)

The network layer will establish the MTU.

• Network layer receives this from control information

sent by the data link layer.
• The network then establishes the MTU size.

Fragmentation is when Layer 3 splits the IPv4 packet into smaller units.
• Fragmenting causes latency.
• IPv6 does not fragment packets.
• Example: Router goes from Ethernet to a slow WAN with a smaller MTU

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6.2 IPv4 Packet

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IPv4 Packet
IPv4 Packet Header

• IPv4 is the primary communication protocol for the network layer.

• The network header has many purposes:

§ It ensures the packet is sent in the correct direction (to the destination).
§ It contains information for network layer processing in various fields.
§ The information in the header is used by all layer 3 devices that handle the
packet

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IPv4 Packet
IPv4 Packet Header Fields

The IPv4 network header characteristics:

• It is in binary.
• Contains several fields of information
• Diagram is read from left to right, 4
bytes per line
• The two most important fields are the
source and destination.

Protocols may have may have one or more

functions.

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IPv4 Packet
IPv4 Packet Header Fields
Significant fields in the IPv4 header:

Function Description
Version This will be for v4, as opposed to v6, a 4 bit field= 0100

Differentiated Services Used for QoS: DiffServ – DS field or the older IntServ – ToS or
Type of Service
Header Checksum Detect corruption in the IPv4 header

Time to Live (TTL) Layer 3 hop count. When it becomes zero the router will discard
the packet.
Protocol I.D.s next level protocol: ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc.

Source IPv4 Address 32 bit source address

Destination IPV4 Address 32 bit destination address

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6.3 IPv6 Packets

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IPv6 Packets
Limitations of IPv4

IPv4 has three major limitations:

• IPv4 address depletion – We have basically run out of IPv4 addressing.

• Lack of end-to-end connectivity – To make IPv4 survive this long, private

addressing and NAT were created. This ended direct communications with public
addressing.

• Increased network complexity – NAT was meant as temporary solution and creates
issues on the network as a side effect of manipulating the network headers
addressing. NAT causes latency and troubleshooting issues.

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IPv6 Packets
IPv6 Overview

• IPv6 was developed by Internet

Engineering Task Force (IETF).
• IPv6 overcomes the limitations of IPv4.

• Improvements that IPv6 provides:

• Increased address space – based on
128 bit address, not 32 bits
• Improved packet handling – simplified
header with fewer fields
• Eliminates the need for NAT – since
there is a huge amount of addressing,
there is no need to use private
addressing internally and be mapped to
a shared public address.

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IPv6 Packets
IPv4 Packet Header Fields in the IPv6 Packet Header

• The IPv6 header is simplified,

but not smaller.

• The header is fixed at 40 Bytes

or octets long.

• Some IPv4 fields like Flag,

Fragment Offset, Header
Checksum etc were removed
to improve performance:

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IPv6 Packets
IPv6 Packet Header
Significant fields in the IPv6 header:

Function Description
Version This will be for v6, as opposed to v4, a 4 bit field= 0110

Traffic Class Used for QoS: Equivalent to DiffServ – DS field

Flow Label Informs device to handle identical flow labels the same way, 20 bit
field
Payload Length This 16-bit field indicates the length of the data portion or payload
of the IPv6 packet
Next Header I.D.s next level protocol: ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc.

Hop Limit Replaces TTL field Layer 3 hop count

Source and Destination 128 bit source and destination addresses

IPv6 Addresses
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IPv6 Packets
IPv6 Packet Header (Cont.)

IPv6 packet may also contain extension headers (EH).

EH headers characteristics:
• provide optional network layer information
• are optional
• are placed between IPv6 header and the payload
• may be used for fragmentation, security, mobility support, etc.

Note: Unlike IPv4, routers do not fragment IPv6 packets.

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6.4 How a Host Routes

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How a Host Routes
Host Forwarding Decision

• Packets are always created at the

source.
• Each host devices creates their
own routing table.

• A host can send packets to the following:

• Itself – 127.0.0.1 (IPv4), ::1 (IPv6)
• Local Hosts – destination is on the same LAN
• Remote Hosts – devices are not on the same LAN

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How a Host Routes
Host Forwarding Decision (Cont.)

• The Source device determines whether the destination is local or remote

• Method of determination:
• IPv4 – Source uses its own IP address
and Subnet mask, along with the
destination IP address
• IPv6 – Source uses the network
address and prefix advertised by the
local router

• Local traffic is dumped out the host interface to be handled by an intermediary

device.
• Remote traffic is forwarded directly to the default gateway on the LAN.
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How a Host Routes
Default Gateway

• A router or layer 3 switch can be a default-gateway.

• Features of a default gateway (DGW):

§ It must have an IP address in the same range as the rest of the LAN.
§ It can accept data from the LAN and is capable of forwarding traffic off of the
LAN.
§ It can route to other networks.

• If a device has no default gateway or a bad default gateway, its traffic will
not be able to leave the LAN.

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How a Host Routes
A Host Routes to the Default Gateway

• The host will know the default gateway (DGW) either statically or through DHCP in
IPv4.

• IPv6 sends the DGW through a router solicitation (RS) or can be configured
manually.

• A DGW is static route which will be a

last resort route in the routing table.
• All device on the LAN will need the
DGW of the router if they intend to
send traffic remotely.

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How a Host Routes
Host Routing Tables

• On Windows, route print or netstat -r to display the PC routing table

• Three sections displayed by

these two commands:

§ Interface List – all potential

interfaces and MAC addressing
§ IPv4 Routing Table
§ IPv6 Routing Table

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